


I Waited Years, For You to Come Home

by NotAWerewolf42



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Character Study, Dark, F/F, Families of Choice, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Kidnapping, Mom Eda Clawthorne, My Darkest Fanfic Yet, Post-Episode: s01e19 Young Blood Old Souls, Praying Mention, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings starting in chapter 2, birds and bees talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:34:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26381212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotAWerewolf42/pseuds/NotAWerewolf42
Summary: Sending…Sent…Not Delivered.It’s not the first time she’s seen that. For over two years, Luz has been missing, with no sign of her anywhere. It breaks her down.Meanwhile, Luz experiences growing up without her mother, and though she has others to support her, that doesn’t take away that she celebrates her Quinceañera without her mamá.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Camilia Noceda & Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda
Comments: 132
Kudos: 920





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Happy Birthday (pt 1)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26193679) by [Drabbles_Of_Writing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drabbles_Of_Writing/pseuds/Drabbles_Of_Writing). 



> Highlight Spanish text to see translation

_“Los siento, mamá."_

Luz Noceda could have no way of knowing, but as she watched her only way home ignite, her mother was settling into bed and composing a text.

**“How was your day at camp todaybébé?”**

_Sending….Sent….Not Delivered._

It’s not the first time she’s seen that. Luz has forgotten to charge her phone many times before. Camila had hoped that learning responsibility at camp would push her to remember little things like charging her phone, but it had only been a month.

Luz was energetic and passionate, and Camila didn’t want to take that away from her. But her inability to make friends worried Camila. She was fourteen years old, a teenager, and yet still read her manga, talked endlessly about witches and magic like they were real, and got in trouble when her imagination got the better of her. She needed this camp.

Or maybe, Camila thought for what wasn’t the last time, Camila wanted her to be more normal. She hated the thought of it. She never wanted to change her daughter, just help her grow up.

Not a day after Luz left, Camila considered pulling her out. But then Luz texted, and wrote letters, and made friends. Camila knew that Luz had been reluctant to go, but hearing about how happy she sounded there? She knew she made the right choice.

Camila sighed, set her phone on her bedside table, and waited for the morning to bring a response. Luz would go to check her phone at some point, notice it was out of power, and then all would be well. She’d tell her about her day, maybe even send a letter.

Or perhaps Luz had finally made some real friends and got distracted by them. This brought a smile to Camila’s face as she passed into sleep.

* * *

A day later, and no response.

Camila’s dreams had not been quiet. She couldn’t stop worrying about Luz, even though she knew that there was certainly a logical reason for Luz’s lack of response. But when she awoke, still the message hadn’t gone through. She tried again.

**“Buenos días, mija! :)”**

_Sending….Sent….Not Delivered._

When she saw that text on-screen, a chill ran through her body. Her parental instincts were screaming at her: “She’s in trouble.”

Resolving to settle her nerves, she called the camp.

The camp hadn’t seen her. In fact, she had never arrived. 

“And you never called!?”

“I..uh, guess the head councillor thought you had pulled your daughter from the program?” the young woman answered.

The counsellor at the other end told Camila she would call the authorities. Camila made a noise of affirmation and hung up.

Her baby was lost.

Camila had no time to cry. She reported Luz as missing, and when investigators came to her door, she told them everything she knew. She showed them the letters, the texts. They told her they’d begin searching immediately, told her it was going to be alright. Camila knew it would.

And when she finally fell into bed, her body aching and tired, she cried herself to restless sleep.

* * *

A week passed. And everything only got worse.

When the police went to the camp, to see whether Luz had ever made it, they found a disturbing scene. 

More than a ‘Reality Check’, it turned out that the camp was actually a conversion therapy camp. Queer children were being sent there to ‘pray the gay away’.

When Camila heard those words, her heart dropped lower than it had ever. Her darling Luz. She had sent her to get changed. Fixed. Like she was broken. No wonder she was gone. She must have run away, to get away from…

Camila collapsed onto her couch. Luz had come out to Camila only a year prior. She had seemed so vulnerable at that moment. And though Camila had been uninformed at best, she wanted to do whatever it took to make her daughter feel safe. And she had turned around and done this.

“Mi bébé, los siento, perdóname,” she wept.

When Luz came back, she would never try to change her again. All Camila wanted at that moment was to hear her beloved daughter come charging down the stairs, info dumping about her books, or the anime she had gotten hooked by, or witches and griffons and...

Before, she hadn’t known whether Luz had run away or gotten kidnapped. But she knew now. Luz feared her. And that was the worst feeling of all.

Despite not getting more than an hour of sleep the night prior, Camila couldn’t sleep that night.

* * *

Three months passed.

The manhunts had stopped. The lead investigator told her that they’d continue to look into it, but his eyes told Camila everything he was thinking.

_‘She’s not coming back’_

Friends had told her to keep up hope, that Luz was a smart girl, she’d figure it out and be back before you know it. But behind her back, they told each other to let Camila grieve. Because Luz was gone.

The camp was shut down, the people running it arrested. But none of the children there were hers.

And when Luz turned 15, Camila broke.

There were two possibilities: that Luz was having her Quinceañera without her. Camila had been planning her little party for a few months now. It would’ve just been held in their backyard, with whatever friends Luz invited, as well as some of Camila’s colleagues with children. There would be music and a mother-daughter dance. But Luz was somewhere else, with god-knows who else, and she would be turning 15 without her.

Or, Luz wasn’t.

She opened up her phone, opening up her messaging app like she had every day since Luz had stopped responding. And once again, she sent a message.

**“Happy birthday[bébé](%20)! Please come home soon, I miss you so much. I bought you the latest Azura book for your birthday. Te quiero. <3”**

_Sending….Sent….Not Delivered._

She saw that she had messages from several of her friends, telling Camila to “stay strong” and that “she’s still out there, she’ll come home soon”. It was Luz’s Facebook page: people had seen that it was Luz’s birthday and messaged her some words of encouragement.

She needed it.

With the book she had ordered, ‘The Good Witch Azura 6: Hecate’s Redemption’, in hand, Camila passed the threshold into Luz’s room for the first time in three months. She had told herself that if she never looked inside, then maybe Luz was still in there. But as she looked around, the room the same as it had been when Luz left, she knew that Luz was gone.

A bookshelf full of manga and fantasy novels. Posters and drawing all over the walls. A bi pride flag hanging over the end of the bed.

Camila carefully sat down on Luz’s bed, setting the novel onto it, so that Luz would see it when she came home.

Camila had never been a religious woman, but she prayed that her daughter would return. Or even just let her know that she was safe and alive. That would be enough. Even if Luz hated her forever, she would be happy knowing she was alive.

Camila had never been a drinker, but she wanted to make herself feel less that night.

* * *

In another world, Luz was feeling miserable. It was her birthday, and she had not come any closer to finding a way home.

She had been so busy with Belos and the Emperor's Coven, as well as expanding her retinue of spells. Plus there was the issue of Eda and Lillith’s magic. She had resigned herself to a year without a birthday.

But when she emerged from her room in the Owl House, she was surprised by banners, balloons (or something balloon-like, Boiling Isles-style) and friends wishing her a happy birthday.

“Aw, you guys!” she gushed, taking it all in. All her friends were here: Eda and King, of course, Willow, Gus, Amity and her siblings, Viney and the other former detention track kids. And they were all wearing what Luz could only assume is what they thought human birthday party attire looked like. Even Lilith was wearing a party hat.

“We knew you were missing home, so Eda thought to put this together,” Willow told her as she gave her friend a hug.

“Thanks, Eda!” Luz barreled into Eda, giving the witch the tightest hug.

“Yeah, yeah. You only get one of these,” Eda said as she returned the hug, though everyone knew she was just saying it to try and look cool. Eda cared deeply about Luz, enough to research human culture.

When Luz approached Amity, she went red as a blood beet (native to the Boiling Isles, of course). “Here,” Amity said abruptly, shoving a small gift in Luz’s direction. Luz unwrapped it as carefully as she was able to, and revealed it to be a small packet of paper, entitled ‘The Good Witch Luz’, and complete with a hand-drawn picture of Luz with a witch’s cape, hat and staff.

“I, uh, wasn’t sure if you’d want this but, I wrote it and if you don’t like it I can just get rid of it…” Amity’s nervous stuttering around Luz was shut when Luz pressed a gentle kiss to Amity’s lips.

“I love it, corazón.”

If Amity could've turned redder, she would’ve. Even after going on a few dates with her now-girlfriend, Amity could hardly believe that Luz returned her affection.

As the morning changed to afternoon, and afternoon to evening, the events shifted from a birthday party to a real Quinceañera as Luz shared stories of her culture. Now dressed in her prom outfit, she took Eda aside.

“Hey Eda, so there's a tradition for Quinceañera’s, and I was hoping you could help.”

Eda looked to her questioningly.

“Well, there’s normally a mother-daughter dance. Well actually it’s normally a father-daughter but my mamá is all I had, so it was going to be a mother-daughter dance, but she's not here, and I was wondering...”

Eda looked down at Luz with love in her heart and bile sac. “Come on kid.”

Room was made on the impromptu dance floor, with light glyphs all around, as Eda and Luz slowly danced to the most appropriate song Luz could find on her phone. And if Luz leaned her head into Eda’s dress and quietly let tears fall, Eda made no response but to hold her kid close.

And when the night petered out and friends went home, and Luz to bed, she held the picture of her mother close to her heart as she fell asleep.

* * *

A year after Luz had stopped responding, and Camila had almost grown used to the quiet.

She came home after work, exhausted. When she had brought herself to go back, she had thrown herself entirely into it. She had, at the behest of her friends, gone to therapy. And they told her that though she could still have hope, that she needs to acknowledge the possibility that Luz would not be coming back. That, wherever she was, Camila would only begin to heal when she faced the music.

And so, for the first time in a year, Camila did not send a text to her daughter. Not one had been delivered.

She would never forget her angel, but perhaps, it may be time to let her go.

* * *

And in the Isles, Eda was fulfilling more and more parental duties. Not long after Luz turned 16, Eda saw Luz come home from Amity’s with her hood mysteriously up.

“How was your date?” she inquired.

“Good, great. Super tired, going to bed.” Luz quickly responded.

Eda caught up with Luz and turned her around. And saw it, just like she thought. Right on Luz’s neck. Luz quickly put together that Eda had seen it, and her eyes dropped to the ground, to avoid meeting Eda’s gaze.

“Now kid, I’ve been alive long enough to know what a hickey is. I thought Edric and Emira were supposed to keep an eye on you two”

“Nothing happened.”

Eda had never read a parenting book, on account of never wanting to be a parent. But she knew how important her next words were.

“Did your mom ever talk to you about sex?”

“Eda!? Gross!” Luz exclaimed. But Eda continued to stare Luz down until she quietly uttered “No.”

 _‘Titan, help me’_ she thought, as she sat Luz down. “Listen, kid. There’s nothing wrong with it, and you should never feel ashamed. I want to make sure that if you’re doing it, that you do it safely, and that no-one’s forcing you to do anything you don’t want to.”

When Luz kept her eyes on the ground and didn’t say a word, Eda knew she’d have to open up if she wanted this kid to listen.

“Alright, I’m gonna let you in on a secret, so don’t let this out, but when I was your age, I had a crush too.”

This caught Luz’s attention. “Backstory.”

“Yup. And things got intense fast. And they asked me to do something I didn’t really want to. But I thought I was in love, so I did it. And after that, they left me totally alone. And being the amazing, powerful witch that I am, I was totally fine.” Eda could see Luz was doubtful, but she continued on regardless. “But, someone who’s so full of emotions like you humans might feel hurt.”

“So, I want you to feel safe talking to me about anything, owlet.”

“Okay, madre.” Luz said quietly. 

Eda may not know exactly what that word meant, but she was pretty sure she could figure it out. With a smile, she sent Luz to her room to clean herself up.

“Well that was terrible,” she told herself. But as awkward as it felt being open, she had a smile on her face.

* * *

A little over two years after Luz had gone missing, and Camila had made a routine for herself. She never moved out of that house, because despite everything, she wanted to make sure that if ever Luz came back, or wrote, that Luz could find her.

She was still in therapy, but she was beginning to feel in control of her life again. Of course, that would be the point where everything changed.

In another world, Luz and all of her friends had defeated Belos. His plans, whatever they were, had been thwarted, and when the group found his newly created portal, Luz was filled with a hope she hadn’t felt in over two years.

She could finally go back.

“Are you nervous?” Amity asked at Luz’s side, as the two stared into the bright light circle that was her way back to the human world. She knew the answer already, but she wanted Luz to talk about it.

“I haven’t seen her in so long, what if she’s forgotten about me?”

“I don’t think anyone could forget about you.”

Luz smiled and gripped Amity’s hand tightly.

“Alright Luz, you ready?” Eda asked as she slung an arm over her adoptive daughter’s shoulders.

“Yup.”

Amity and Eda would go with her, and later she'd show Willow and Gus the human world. But to see her mother, she needed back-up.

They stepped through and exited the wooden shack. As they walked through the path, Luz didn’t even notice her phone buzzing, as hundreds of notifications finally went through. She had one goal in mind.

The house looked the same as it did, that day she went to the Isles.

“What if she’s moved away?” Luz asked.

Amity and Eda shared a glance but didn’t say a word. Luz untangled her hand from Amity’s, and the two witches stood at the end of the walkway, watching Luz approach the door. She held up a hand to knock, but it held still for a few seconds. Luz’s mind was going a mile a minute. But when she did knock, her mind quieted, as she heard footsteps approaching.

“Hello…” Camila began and froze at the sight in front of her. Neither said a thing as they took each other in.

Camila’s hair had begun greying, the stress setting in. She had a wrinkle that Luz didn’t remember seeing before, and her mother’s eyes had bags underneath.

Luz had changed too. Now almost 17, she had grown tall, taller than Amity (to the witch’s dismay) and taller than her mother. Her outfit was fully witchy, with her cloak and her own staff tipped with her owl palisman. She had a scar across her cheek from an encounter with Belos, but her eyes were just the same.

Camila was crying before she got her arms around Luz, who responded in turn. Cries of “Mija” and “Mamá” were thrown around.

“I’m so sorry mija, I should have never sent you away.”

“It’s okay mamá. It’s okay. I’m here.” Luz reassured her.

When the tears finally slowed, Luz stepped back. “Soooo, I wanna introduce you to…” she gestured to the two standing at the end of the walkway, “Eda and Amity. They helped me get home.”

Camila looked at the two. Though they had both hidden their more obvious witch features with illusion magic, they still looked as out of place as Luz did. Amity, who had forgone dying her hair, and Eda, who still had her grey eye. “Thank you for bringing my baby home.”

The two smiled, and when Camila gestured them closer, they were pulled into the hug.

“Luz, you will never have to change for me. Read your books and be yourself, I love you the way you are. I never want to lose you again”

“You won’t mamá.”

Things would never be the same. For while she would never fully leave the human world behind, the Isles had become her home. There was almost no way to explain her disappearance without showing her mother where she had been, so that would be done later.

Camila did not easily go to sleep that night. Because she feared that when she awoke, she would find it all to be a dream. But she awoke to the smell of pancakes cooking, and when she entered her kitchen, she found her daughter was still there. Amity and Eda, who were invited to stay the night with Luz, were also there, talking with Luz like old friends.

Unfortunately, none of them heard Camila approach, so the illusions were down, and they were all flagrantly using magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who’s got two thumbs and a new hyper fixation: this gal! This was inspired by a couple of fics: the Four Years series by Drabbles_of_Writing, and The Talk by TheFoolsYouSee. This is probably the darkest fic I’ve ever written. Camila seems like a more complex character than some give her credit for: she seems to care deeply for her daughter, even if she did send her to a behavioural camp.  
> Anyways, I gotta go inject myself with 200ccs of pure Fluff.  
> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival


	2. Chapter 2

“What is happening here?!”

A pan clattered to the ground, splattering the floor tiles with half-cooked banana pancakes. Luz, Amity and Eda all snapped to face Camilia, dropping the spells they were casting. Luz’ palisman, Owlhandra, was sitting on the kitchen table with Owlbert.

“Hello Miss Noceda, my human fellow. Fellow human,” Amity blurted out. Camilia stared at the brown-haired witch. Luz tried to signal that her ears and fangs were still visible, and when she got the message, Amity quickly cast a spell to summon the illusion.

Eda put her face in her hand. Amity had cast a spell in front of the human.

“Mamá, I didn’t hear you come in!”

Camilia shook herself from her stupor and ran to Luz, holding her protectively. “Mija, what is this? Who are these people!?”

“I told you mamá, these are my friends.”

“They were doing magic! She...” Camilia said, pointing to Eda, “...has fangs!” Eda gave a nervous smile in response. “There are owls on the table!” Owlhandra looked like she had been caught with her beak in the cookie jar..

“Mija, did you know about this?”

“It’s a little hard to explain…”

* * *

With Eda and Amity walking ahead, Luz led her mother by the hand through the wood. Camilia saw the two strangers conversing, telling a joke if Eda’s loud laugh meant anything. Her eyes wandered to Luz, who was grinning. Her daughter seemed to feel Camilia’s gaze and gave Camilia a wide smile.

Camilia returned a more unsure smile. She had never gone this far into these woods, and she was still wary of the two witches. Despite Luz’ assurance that they were trustworthy, she had her doubts.

“Alright human, we’re here,” Eda announced.

Camilia beheld the old wooden shack they had stopped in front of. From Eda’s large grey mane, the witch pulled out a small key, and with a button press, the front door swung open, revealing a plane of bright white light. Eda walked in with confidence in her step, and Amity followed, sparing a glance and a smile at Luz.

“Come on.”

“Mija, are you sure this is safe?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right beside you.”

Camilia stepped through, into a dimension of magic and demons, and was amazed.

“Dios mío…”

In short order, Camilia had been introduced to two of Luz’ friends, Willow and Gus, as well as King (and unfortunately, Hooty). She’s been invited to have dinner at the Owl House, and she gets a glimpse of what life has been life for her daughter here.

“So Amity, what was the human world like?” Willow asked.

“And spare no details,” Gus added, pulling a notepad out.

As Amity began recounting the strange ‘laptop’ that Luz had shown her, Camilia’s eyes wandered over to the kitchen, where Luz and Eda were working together to make dinner. They flew through the kitchen, effortlessly gliding past each other as they both added to the dish.

“Do we have any Ghoul Peppers left? I want this chili to have some tang.”

“Owlet, you’re the only one who can stand those things.”

Owlet?

“Come on mom, have a sense of adventure!”

“I did, and I ended up with you. Never again.” Eda said with a smirk.

Camilia felt like she had been hit with a truck. She had called the Owl Lady mom. She had been replaced.

Not that she didn’t deserve it. She curled inward as her thoughts began to spiral. Luz may not have intended to leave her mother behind, but she still ran away from the ‘Reality Check’ camp, because she shouldn’t have gone. If Camilia had never tried to make her normal, she wouldn’t have spent the last two years mourning the loss of her daughter, or watched herself get replaced, or…

“Miss Noceda?” Amity’s voice cut into Camilia’s thoughts. The young witch’s eyed Camilia over, and she seemed to understand that something was wrong. “Luz, I’m just going to show your mom the garden.”

“Okay Am!” Luz replied cheerfully.

Despite the garden being Willow’s pet project more than anyone else’s, Willow can read a room better than anyone, and didn’t say anything as Amity led Camilia through the back door.

Circular stones demark the pathway to the centre of the large flower bed, and Amity sat beside Luz’ mother on a simple stone bench. Camilia took in the gorgeous pinks, yellows and blues of the flowers around them, momentarily removing her from her spiralling thoughts. There were tall golden stalks, huge blue flowers and little pink ones. Amity was glad to see the Venus Man-trap was asleep. That was something Amity didn’t need to deal with right now. When Camilia refocused, Amity was watching her carefully.

“How are you feeling?” Amity asked.

“I’m fine.”

Amity had learned a lot from Luz since meeting her, and one was that you can’t keep everything bottled up. Amity had tried to do that for a very long time, and all it did was make her bitter. Luz was the one who convinced her to open up.

“Luz talks about you all the time.”

Camilia snorted. “About how I tried to change her, right?”

“About how much you care about her, and tried to do right by her.”

This catches Camilia’s attention. “I told her that she would have to be more normal. I tried to change her. Make her ordinary.”

“If that was all you did, then you’re a hundred times better than my parents.” Amity didn’t want to make this all about herself, but Camilia seemed to be waiting for her to elaborate. “My parents tried to change me. Mould me into the perfect daughter. They chose who my friends were, what my future would be.”

“So did I…”

“You did it out of love. You did it because you wanted Luz to be happy. My parents did it to ‘uphold the family name’ and to make themselves look better.” As she spoke, Amity absently held a flower in her hand. “You made some mistakes, but you love Luz. I can’t imagine how hard it was, missing her.”

Camilia broke into tears, grabbing Amity and holding her tight. Amity was shocked and kept her arms awkwardly at her side, but then gently rested them against Camilia’s back, returning her hug. “I see where Luz gets her, uh, touchy-feely-ness.”

Camilia sniffled, but there was a smile on her face. “Ay, every Noceda’s a hugger. We’ll make you one yet.”

Amity had brought Camilia out here to try and comfort her, and now somehow she was the one feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

When the tears had subsided, Amity and Camilia both wiped their eyes. She was still Luz’ mom. Even if she did have more family now.

And if she was Luz’ mom…

“Now, what exactly are your intentions with my bébé?”

Amity went blood-red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! The response to my first chapter was well above what I had expected. Thanks to everyone who commented! This chapter is obviously less angsty, because I don’t know if I could maintain that level of hurt. That being said, how would y’all feel if I did some less chronological chapters. I was thinking about doing some chapters from the 2+ years Luz was separated from Camilia, like Luz and Amity’s first date and other scenes. Probably shorter stuff. Let me know in the comments.  
> -NotAWerewolf42, beta’d by nival_kenival


End file.
